SCMPD seeks funding for smarter, safer policing

Police Chief Michael Berkow asked the Chatham County Commission to consider some $486,188 for new equipment and supplies for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.

And while items such as vehicle radios and plastic back seats for police cruisers won't necessarily make the department work better, the chief said those items would make officers work smarter and safer.

"We are asking for a number of things," Berkow told commissioners during the board's third and final budget workshop Wednesday. "But we're trying to be focused and strategic in what we are looking for."

Still, some of the "big ticket" items did raise some eyebrows.

For example, Berkow is seeking $235,000 for an armored vehicle for the department's SWAT team, a cost that would be shared with the city of Savannah.

"We are the only SWAT team for a very long radius, basically from the Florida border to South Carolina," Berkow said.

He said the department regularly gets calls for situations where an armored vehicle would be the best way to approach the scene.

"Regrettably, these (vehicles) are very expensive," Berkow said. "But ... an item that we buy once and use for a very, very long time."

The chief is also seeking an additional $31,000 outside the regular police budget for a 16-foot Hovercraft to assist Marine Patrol with rescue missions impossible to reach with regular boats in the fleet.

New technology

Similarly, the chief is requesting $194,188 to purchase a crime scene scanner. Again, Berkow said it's an expense that would be shared with Savannah.

"We are incredibly dependent on the state crime lab," Berkow said. "We have no ability to analyze."

He noted that several recent cases are awaiting analysis from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab and conversations with Chatham County District Attorney Spencer Lawton "impressed on me the need to bring forward the best possible cases."

But District 6 Commissioner David Gellatly urged Berkow to use caution when purchasing new technology.

"There are so many new gizmos out there," said Gellatly, a former Savannah police chief. "If the company doesn't have a track record of five years, I would be skeptical."

Berkow replied that he made a mistake "courtesy of the LAPD" on the same technology a few years back.

"This is a second generation of the technology and another vendor," Berkow added, noting the system he is seeking is reputable.

"As long as you don't buy the first gizmo you see," Gellatly said.

While commissioners questioned the big ticket items, the board didn't dispute the cost of radios or plastic patrol car seats.

Berkow said $47,500 in county dollars would install radios in 19 police cars.

He added it's something that could be phased in over time until the whole fleet has radios.

"This is really an officer safety issue," Berkow said. "Increasingly, we are asking our officers to be more aggressive and more engaged."

If the radio attached to an officer's uniform is damaged, lost or destroyed in a chase, he said that man or woman is suddenly without a way to communicate.

"A lot of bad things happen in the back seats of our cars," Berkow said. "This would let us clean up more quickly."

It would also allow officers to fasten suspects into the back seat for safety purposes.

"You're being kind when you say strange things happen in the back seat of police cars," Gellatly said. "With cloth seats, when bad things happen, the smell never goes away. ... Those plastic seats are long overdue."

District 3 Commissioner Patrick Shay said the county should fund whatever is needed to make sure police have the necessary resources.

"The men and women on the front line need to have the proper resources," Shay said. "When they can do their best job, we have better policing.

"If things like Hovercraft and SWAT armored vehicles ... are the things we need in order to have an efficient police department, then I am inclined to agree."